Day: June 27, 2024

The Assin Apimanim Traditional Council, in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Ghana Tourism Authority, Central Regional Coordinating Council and Assin South District Assembly will hold an event on Friday, July 5 to herald Emancipation Day celebration on Thursday, August 1.

The occasion is expected to whip up the interest of the public to join in the celebrations amidst highlighting the rich culture and traditions of the inhabitants of the area and Ghanaians in general, featuring traditional music, dance, and art.

The event will be held at the forecourt of Assin Appimanim Omanhene’s Palace in Assin Manso on the theme: ‘Our Heritage, Culture, and Education.’

Emancipation Day 2024 slated for August 1, is expected to encourage education and cultural interchange, and nurture a sense of community and solidarity among the populace.

Distinguished guests, including traditional leaders, government dignitaries, and cultural scholars, will deliver addresses.

The festivities will conclude w
ith captivating cultural displays and a grand durbar, ensuring a day of lasting memories.

The event on July 5 to be hosted by the Assin Apimanim Traditional Council and will educate and enlighten the public on the importance of preserving their cultural heritage and fostering cultural exchanges.

The Traditional Council through it programme seeks to instil in the younger generation appreciation for their shared history, embrace the present, and lay the foundation for a brighter future for posterity.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Accra Circuit Court Three has granted a GHC40,000.00 bail with two sureties to an entrepreneur over an alleged Canadian Visa fraud.

The Court presided over by Mrs Susanna Eduful ordered that the sureties for Joel Bennet Akwei Appiah must prove that each earned not less than GHC1,000.00 a month.

She asked the prosecution to file and make available disclosures, including witness statement to the accused person.

Appiah has denied the offence.

He is to return to the Court on July 30, 2024.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Evans Kesse, giving the facts, said Mr Justice Eli Valley, the complainant, was a Ghanaian residing at Baatsonaa whilst Appiah, the accused person, was an accountant residing at Tema.

He said on May 6, 2024, a complaint was lodged by the complainant that on October 23, 2023, he made payment of GHS35,000.00 at Jappex World Limited Travel and Tour Company’s bank account at CBG Baatsonaa branch.

He said the accused received the payment under the pretext of securing the complainant’s
younger brother, a Canadian VISA.

The prosecution said Appiah after receiving the money promised to finish the process on December 15, 2023, but failed to honour his promise.

The Court was told that the accused again promised to deliver the Visa on February 19, 2024, but failed again.

The complainant asked the accused to refund the money as promised and on May 6, 2024, a report was made at Baatsonaa Divisional CID leading to Appiah’s arrest, the Court heard.

DSP Kesse said he admitted the offence in his cautioned statement and after investigation, he was charged with the offence and put before court.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Steven Blewett, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTN Ghana, has visited Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II at the Manhyia Palace as he begins his duty in Ghana.

Accompanied by other company officials, the new CEO told the King that he was at the Palace to introduce himself and share his vision for the company.

‘As someone who values the culture of a people, I deemed it right to pay homage to the Asantehene as I begin my duty as CEO and to learn first-hand concerns he has so together with my team we can work to address same and provide better services to the people of Ghana and Asanteman’, the CEO stated.

He pledged his commitment to exploring all avenues to make the services MTN provides to the people of Ghana, particularly Asanteman seamless.

Mr Blewett commended the Asantehene for welcoming the team and for supporting MTN Ghana all these years.

He noted that the relationship between the Asantehene and MTN Ghana had been mutually beneficial and promised to work to strengthen the bond.

The company,
he said, was working to ensure data, network and other services were improved for the people of Ashanti to enjoy quality service.

‘My vision is to ensure that our operations and services continue to serve the people of Ghana including Asanteman very well so that we can keep the partnership we have with the people’, he noted.

Welcoming the MTN Ghana team to the Manhyia Palace, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II commended the company for maintaining a good working relationship with the people of Asanteman and the Palace.

He noted that it was not surprising that MTN was the preferred network for people in the region and the country at large.

The Asantehene asked the new CEO to prioritise the training of staff and many others whose services could help improve the quality of service for the people.

‘I am not surprised that you command over 70 to 80% of the market share in the telecommunications industry and I pray that you work to ensure your services are of the highest quality and helpful for the people of Ghana and Asant
eman in particular’, Asantehene intimated.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Ms Emelia Ofori Agyemang, a Midwife and Facility Head at Bediako CHPS Compound has urged women to change their sanitary pads periodically to prevent vaginal infections.

She stated that changing the sanitary pad during the menstrual cycle promoted good menstrual hygiene.

Ms Agyemang advised that sanitary pads should be changed at least three times a day, depending on how heavy or light the flow was, and that the intake of water should be increased during menstruation.

Speaking with the Ghana News Agency in an interview, she recommended that females washed their hands thoroughly with clean running water and soap before fixing and disposing of sanitary pads to prevent bacterial infections.

She subsequently stated that wearing cotton underwear or fabrics helped to absorb heat and bad odours while washing and drying underwear in direct sunlight and ironing should be encouraged as good personal hygiene to help kill organisms leading to vaginal infections.

She reiterated that clean water should be used to wash
the vagina, adding that they should also flush, disinfect, and wipe the toilet seat before using it.

‘Eat more vegetables and fruits to help build the immune system,’ she advised.

The midwife further noted that cleaning the vagina with clean tissue after urination aids in reducing the growth of bacteria to prevent candidiasis and other vaginal infections.

Also, ‘avoid self-medication when you feel vaginal itchiness because not every itchy thing leads to candidiasis,’ she reiterated.

Ms. Agyemang advised women to immediately seek medical treatment for candidiasis when they have symptoms including an itchy or burning sensation during urination, white or thick vaginal discharge with the consistency of cottage cheese, redness, and swelling of the vulva, among other symptoms.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Economic and Financial Court Two has granted an application for the 15th defence witness in the ongoing trial of the Beige Bank’s former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to give his evidence via video.

This is because Mr Thaddeus Sory, counsel for Michael Nyinaku, the former CEO of the liquidated bank, said Dr Edem BarWilliams, the next witness, was out of the Court’s jurisdiction.

The Court presided over by Mrs Afia Serwaa Asare-Botwe, a Court of Appeal Judge with additional responsibility at the High Court, said the application was granted subject to the acceptance of Chief Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo.

The application grant would cover any of the 61 witnesses the defence counsel would call.

The defence is also awaiting prosecution to file disclosures (witness statements) from two additional witnesses: Augustine Boakye Yiadom and Benjamin Akorglu.

Nyinaku is accused of siphoning customers’ funds without their consent, stealing, and fraudulent breaches of trust.

He has denied all the charges and
is on bail pending trial.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Professor Matilda Steiner-Asiedu, Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Ghana, says it is important for academic institutions to encourage community participation to drive science and technology in Africa.

She said community engagement would enable academic institutions to bring their scientific researches and technological innovations to the awareness of community members, which would generate interest, appreciation and partnerships for advancement of science and technology.

‘It is also an encouragement for our students to showcase their work and be able to apply it to everyday life, and how they can network and extend it to community needs and foster national development,’ she added.

Prof Steiner-Asiedu said this on Wednesday during the celebration of the Day of Scientific Renaissance of Africa (DSRA) at the La Bawaleshie Presby School, in the Ayawaso West Municipality.

Approved by the African Union, DSRA is observed to enable Africans showcase their scientific and technological innova
tions.

The event, organised by the College of Basic and Applied Sciences (CBAS), University of Ghana, in collaboration with the Ayawaso West Municipality, was on the theme: ‘Connecting Communities with Science’.

Activities for the Day included exhibitions that highlighted the application of science in everyday life, technology in the home, food, water and personal hygiene, waste management, antirabies vaccination, and health screening.

Prof Steiner-Asiedu, also the Chairperson for the CBAS DSRA Committee, said the College decided to mark the Day by involving the people of La Bawaleshie so that it would widen the University’s impact on the lives of the people.

She said finance was the major challenge in organising such community events and called for sponsorships so that the College could extend the event to other communities to reach wider population.

She said the College had undertaken many innovative projects and appealed especially to the media to help with advocacy and awareness creation for partners
hips.

Prof Steiner-Asiedu assured of the University’s willingness to work with communities, particularly to provide training in animal husbandry, crop farming, and agroprocessing to create job opportunities to enhance the livelihoods of the community members.

Prof Boateng Onwona Agyeman, Provost, CBAS, expressed appreciation to the La Bawaleshie Traditional Council for allowing the University to hold the event in the community.

He said the event, organised for the second time in the community, would be held annually to keep the people abreast of the University’s science and technological breakthroughs.

He emphasised that, the University had embarked on many researches and developed ideas, but on a smaller scale and called for public-private partnership to scale up to commercial levels.

Mrs Sandra Owusu-Ahinkorah, Municipal Chief Executive, Ayawaso West Municipal Assembly, in a message delivered on her behalf, acknowledged the pivotal role of science and technology in national development.

She stressed t
he Assembly’s commitment to promoting science and technology, urging all stakeholders to forge partnerships and leverage collective expertise to advance the nation’s development.

Mr Ebenezer Okoe Kotey, on behalf of the La Bawaleshie Traditional Council, noted that, the exhibitions had enlightened them and given them a practical feel of some of the scientific processes and applications.

He appealed to the University to organise such events frequently to let community members learn more about science and technology, assuring that, the Traditional Council would offer the necessary support to achieve that.

The exhibitions showcased various projects by the students of CBAS, including innovative ways to preserve foods and maintain their nutritional value, how to make variety of foods from local produce and cater for nutritional deficiencies, food packaging, probiotics for gut health, use of plastic waste for fuel, hydroponic system for irrigation, drug development, and recycling and reuse of plastics.

Ms Korko
r Okai, Department of Biochemistry, University of Ghana, said: ‘It is important we came to the community to have this exhibition with the people. For instance, it will help them to practise good personal hygiene and to be more health-conscious.’

Source: Ghana News Agency

An international ride-hailing service Yango, a part of a global tech company Yango Group, has partnered with Guinness Ghana PLC to launch a new safety initiative aimed at preventing drunk driving accidents, promoting safe mobility and ensuring both drivers and passengers are safe at all times.

A continuous ”Don’t Drink and Drive Campaign” will include promotional events and activities to encourage responsible drinking habits by passengers and discourage drunk driving by partner drivers.

This includes in app notifications, regular training, out of home marketing campaigns and many advertisements.

The safety forum, which is a first step in the campaign, took place on Wednesday, in Accra and covered topics such as recognizing signs of impairment, strategies for preventing drunk driving, and how to use alternative transportation options such as ride-hailing services like Yango.

The training was provided by certified instructors and was available to all Yango partner drivers and passengers free of charge.

T
his was attended by over 150 participants which cut across Yango’s partners, partner drivers, passengers and authorities from many safety organizations across the country.

As part of the ”Don’t Drink and Drive Campaign”, Yango and Guinness organized a safety training to raise awareness about the dangers of driving under the influence as well as highlight the many safety features Yango has provided for both partner drivers and passengers.

The ”Don’t Drink and Drive Campaign” will also include promotional events and activities to encourage responsible drinking habits by passengers and discourage drunk driving by partner drivers.

This includes in app notifications, regular training, out of home marketing campaigns and many advertisements. Yango and Guinness are working together to create a safe and welcoming environment for all members of the community

‘We are committed to promoting responsible road practices and ensuring the safety of passengers and partner drivers. By partnering with Guinness Ghana PLC
, we hope to raise awareness about the dangers of drunk driving and provide the community with the knowledge and tools they need to make safe and responsible choices.

We are excited to contribute our quota in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of everyone in the country. Safety is a fundamental need and plays a key role in our vision to create income generating opportunities for partner drivers while providing affordable and convenient transportation for passengers,’ said Mr. Ofonime Tom, Country Manager of Yango Ghana.

The Safety Forum also featured a panel discussion which had experts from the health and safety industry to speak on road ethics, crime, safety techniques and measures to ensure the safety and security of both the partner drivers and passengers.

The panel consisted of Mr. Eric Komla Kwakuyi, Regional Safety and Security Officer at Yango, Lynessa Darko, Sustainability and Responsibility Manager at Guinness Ghana PLC and Mr. Damoah Emmanuel Nyarkoh, Director of Safety Campaign Ghana.

Lynessa
Darko, Sustainability and Responsibility Manager at Guinness Ghana PLC, expressed optimism about the campaign and safety training while encouraging more ride-hailing companies to follow the footsteps of Yango in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of their key stakeholders.

She said, ”Safeguarding our community is very important in national development. Ensuring that as brands and companies, we play our roles in providing adequate safety education and awareness to help drivers and passengers stay alert on the roads while knowing the dangers of drunk driving is the first step to achieving a safe and sound environment viable for economic growth.”

The beneficiary partner drivers received certificates of participation to confirm that they have successfully gone through the safety training and are fully aware of the many safety features provided by Yango for partner drivers such as display of passenger ratings, identity photo checks in special cases, display of alert zones and non-penalty configuration for drive
rs to be able to skip orders to the alert zones, display of passenger profile picture, rating form to evaluate riders and in-app calls to support.

The passengers who attended the training also expressed their gratitude to Yango and Guinness for putting together the initiative and pledged to use the knowledge acquired to ensure their safety and the safety of other road users.

Some of the safety features available to passengers include rating form to evaluate trips, display of driver rating, safety center (this houses the share route, ambulance and police, trusted contacts and emergency situation buttons), SOS button, support team which acts promptly, drivers document checks among others..

This move is in line with Yango’s launch of the ”Safety Talk Series” last month which saw the company visit and educate students, faculty members and the general public at the University of Ghana during their SRC week celebrations.

Yango and Guinness are working together to create a safe and welcoming environment for al
l members of the community.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Francis Kwaw Mensah, Assembly Member of Nkroful in the Ellembele district, together with other workers of Adamus Resources have affirmed their willingness to work with Ms. Angela List, the CEO of the company.

Their conviction to have the female CEO continue her operation stemmed from the fact that she had positively handled the management of the company well and contributed massively to the local economic growth and empowerment of the catchment area.

The Assembly member said, ‘Under the distinct leadership of the CEO Madam Angela List, our lives have bettered as we are able to take good care of ourselves and our dependent… I have witnessed tremendous developmental projects that have helped to improve the lives of our people.’

Meanwhile, others want the woman to step down, to allow an interim Management Committee to manage the company due to ownership and leadership impasse.

He said through the efforts of the CEO the company had been able to execute projects, under education, public infrastructure, wate
r and sanitation, donation, and community assistance, among others.

The company has constructed a two-unit classroom block and provided two 16-seater aqua privy toilets at Anwia and then constructed the Anwia Nursery School Block.

At Salman, the company has constructed a Health Centre and donated a two-bedroom unit house to Salman Basic School.

Also, at Teleku Bokazo the company has provided water and sanitation to the people and refurbished Teleku Bokazo Basic School.

Again, it has rehabilitated Kikam Junior High School with a staff common room and provided a 16-seater Aqua Privy toilet facility at Akango, a hand-dug well with a hand pump at Duale as well and the provision of 10-seater flushable toilet facility at Aluku.

In addition, the company has provided skills training/ capacity building for 58 youth (males and females) from Duale, Akango, Salman, Aluku, Salman, Anwia, Teleku Bokazo, Nkroful, Kikam, Asasetre, Nvuma, Avrebo, Adelekezo, Ahunyame, Awukyire, Akropong (16 Communities).

Introduced Wom
en Empowerment (WE) Project where 87 females in the Ellembelle District have obtained skills under the College of Beauty Arts and Entrepreneurship (CBAE).

The project sought to endow the women with power to be independent, self-reliant, and employed.

She supported the Ahantaman Girls Senior High School (SHS) with 1000 bags of cement for the construction of their Assembly Hall.

Recently, Madam Angela donated over 300 boxes of sanitary pads to some schools in the catchment area during the Global Menstrual Hygiene Day.

Ms. Angela List was named as the female CEO of the Year in Ghana’s Mining Industry at the eighth Ghana CEO Summit and Excellence Awards for her outstanding leadership, innovation, and commitment to sustainable practices within the mining industry.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of implementing the planetGOLD Ghana Project, has organised a consultative workshop on the preparation of a social license for stakeholders in the Artisanal Small- scale Gold Mining (ASGM) value chain, in the Prestea Huni-valley municipality.

The workshop was aimed at gathering insights and expertise from stakeholders to facilitate the development of a robust Social License Protocol (SLP) that aligns with the project’s objectives and the needs of the ASGM sector in Ghana.

The Municipal Chief Executive of the Prestea Huni Valley Municipal Assembly, Mr Isaac Dasmani, in his opening remarks commended the project team for the engagement.

He disclosed that his Municipality was endowed with a lot of gold deposits but there were some challenges with the mining operations and urged small-scale miners to support the project on the new approaches, including mercury-free interventions to ensure responsible mining in the municipality.

Mr. Dasmani appealed to the mine
rs to put into practice everything they learn from the workshops to help protect their health and the environment, while encouraging mining companies, both large and small-scale to fulfil their corporate social responsibility to help develop the communities in which they operate.

He urged all stakeholders in the mining value chain to work together to ensure responsible mining and development of communities.

Mr Lovelace Sarpong, Project Coordinator, said the project aimed to minimize the risks posed by mercury use in the ASGM sector by improving sound chemical management and eliminating pollution hazards while improving financial inclusion and transition to the formal economy. 

It also seeks to strengthen national and jurisdictional capacity to enhance Ghana’s compliance with the Minamata Convention following national environmental and formalization policies, alongside global platforms on mercury reductions, responsible supply chains, and mineral resource governance.

He said the project, funded by the Glob
al Environment Facility (GEF) with the support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), had four main components, including optimizing formalization through Jurisdictional Approaches (JAs), accelerating financial inclusion and responsible supply chains, enhancing uptake of mercury-free technologies, and fostering knowledge sharing and local capacity building support.

Mr. Isaac Owusu, Safeguard Officer on the Project, said mining played a major role in the development of the nation.

About 13 out of the 16 regions in Ghana are endowed with mineral deposits. Although the small-scale mining value chain support millions of livelihoods in Ghana, environmental impacts arise during all stages of the mining processes. 

He said the impacts of mining activities transcended the boundaries of the mine hence mining companies must ensure that appropriate mitigation measures were put in place to address the negative impact associated with thei
r operations. 

He said in mining, Social License was an informal social contract that gave mining project sufficient social approval for its long-term sustainability.

‘While this concept is widely accepted by the large mining industry as a tool for success, and has prompted companies to look beyond their self-interest, small-scale miners generally lack the financial and human resources to develop such informal contracts, respond to grievances, and take corrective action to reduce conflict.’

Participants at the workshop agreed that the issues discussed be incorporated into the development of protocols for the social license, while recommending that further engagements be organized in the other project districts for stakeholders.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Police have arrested one suspect in connection with a robbery incident, which occurred at about 0100 hours on Thursday at Ahodwo, Nhyiaeso, in the Ashanti Region, resulting in the death of a Police officer.

A news brief from the Police said an intelligence operation was underway to get the remaining suspects arrested to face justice.

Source: Ghana News Agency